TORONTO - It was two years ago Thursday that a group of Six Nations members took over a housing project in Caledonia, Ont. erecting a teepee, tents and a wooden building, and basically taking over a swath of land in the community 30 kilometres south of Hamilton.
The natives claim it is their land.
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory took the opportunity to call on the McGuinty Liberals "to put an immediate end to the illegal activities plaguing the community and restore the rule of law in Ontario," according to a news release distributed by the Conservatives.
"Today is a sad day for Ontario . . . we mark the anniversary of two years of lawlessness and a breakdown of the rule of law," said Tory. "For two years now, the people of Caledonia have witnessed barricades, occupations, blockades and other illegal acts."
Also on Thursday morning several people, who first occupied the land, held a march in a symbolic protest.
"We started here, we will be here, and we will be everlasting. And this fight, as long as they don't recognize our rights, our fight will be everlasting," said Dawn Smith.
At the Toronto news conference, Tory also spoke about Caledonia homeowners Marie and Dieter Rauscher.
According to Tory, the Rauschers have been trying to sell their home, located near the occupation site for over a year now. During that time, the family has had only 12 inquiries about the property and has been forced to dramatically drop the price of their home by $150,000.
"Lives have been put on hold in Caledonia," said Tory, who also commented on recent media reports that 10 developers had paid $7,000 each to a Six Nations development institute which has started demanding fees from developers who want to build around disputed land near the Grand River.
Earlier this week, McGuinty said police - not the province - would deal with any concerns raised by developers.
The premier said his government has done all it can to manage the Caledonia conflict and insisted it is Prime Minister Stephen Harper who should be held to account for the slow pace of negotiations that has left the town deeply divided.
Federal Liberal native affairs critic Anita Neville said Thursday the Conservatives must act to end the dispute.
"The lack of progress is bad enough, but it's the lack of interest from the Conservatives that is inexcusable," said Neville, who added the Tories should "be ashamed of themselves for allowing the dispute to go on this long."